Warpback: What We Played in June 2016

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Even with the E3 Expo in the air, the Warp Zoned staff got the chance to play a lot of games during the month of June. And that includes Mighty No. 9, probably the most famous/infamous Kickstarter project ever. Did Keiji Inafune nail it? Or was Mighty No. 9 just a speed bump on the way to the rest of what we played last month.

You can find out after the break.

John Scalzo
Editor-In-Chief
2016 is turning out to be a fabulous year for new games. After reading several E3 obituaries in the days leading up to the show, the absolute tidal wave of new announcements made me appreciate gaming’s biggest showcase more than I have in years. And then there’s the stuff that’s already been released, like Doom.

Putting even more time into id Software’s shooter last month, I’m still enjoying its general level of insanity and the constant boom-boom-boom of Doomguy’s Shotgun. Bethesda and id teamed up to create something special, and I’m still loving it six weeks later.

The same can be said for a very different kind of game that’ll soon be available everywhere, Tumblestone. Developed by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, Tumblestone is a Bust-A-Move-like puzzler that is just what the genre needs right now. It’s cute without being saccharine, and it really exercises the old brain muscles.

Finally last month, I downloaded my copy of Mighty No. 9 and came away disappointed. After three years of waiting, I tried to to tamp down my biases, including a nostalgic love for Mega Man, and the relatively poor reception it received from fans and critics alike, but it didn’t matter. Mighty No. 9 just feels clunky and unfinished in a way that the similarly-inspired 20XX, an “Early Access” platformer from Batterystaple Games, doesn’t.

Nicole Kline
Senior Editor
I was really busy at events in June, so I didn’t get to play a ton of games! I finally started up Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, though I had to dig up my 3DS and charge it first. While I was at E3, I only got to play two video games, but I adored them both – Clapper and Flinthook. I had such a great time with them!

Other than that, I wrapped up Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and I’ve even put some time into the multiplayer, which I like despite the fact that I’ll never get over how amazing the second game was in every respect. (I know, I know, I’m a snob.) Oh, and I finally caved and got Enter the Gungeon in the Steam sale, and I am loving it so far! And playing games on the PC reminded me that I haven’t finished up Hyper Light Drifter, so I revisited that and remembered what a beautiful, haunting world it was. It truly is everything beautiful about video games – the lonely atmosphere, intuitive mechanics, and perfect score really nail home what an incredible experience video games can be.

Andrew Rainnie
UK Correspondent
So after 110 hours of play, I managed to get to the final boss of Xenoblade Chronicles X, battle for a solid hour, and then die, so I decided to take a breather from Monolith’s behemoth RPG, and work my way through some of the games gathering dust on my shelf.

Inspired by Ubisoft’s E3 showing of Watch Dogs 2, I tried the first game on for size. Watch Dogs is a bit like a boring version of GTA5, except with really bad car handling. I’m almost at the end of the story, but I have avoided all the repetitive side missions, with the exception of the psychotropic trip minigames, which are so much fun!

I also picked up FAST Racing Neo in the Nintendo eShop sale, and it is fantastic! It looks so pretty, and makes me hope Nintendo has an F-Zero game waiting to launch on the NX next year.

Oh, I also managed to get Guitar Hero Live for £30, which is half its original price. I have played it once. Enough said.

Mike Ryan
Staff Writer
This month I put my usual time into Destiny: The Taken King. I started getting into scouring the Dreadnaught and battling the bosses in the Court of Oryx. I’m hoping to be as caught up as possible when the next expansion hits.

I also started playing Mighty No. 9, and while I can understand where some of the complaints are coming from, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad game. Then again I am halfway through, so there’s still plenty of opportunities for me to get disappointed.

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